High quality of our clinical trials confirmed

The Institute of Cancer Research, London, has successfully retained its status as one of the UK’s specialist centres for designing and running clinical trials.

The UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC) confirmed today that The Institute of Cancer Research’s Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (ICR-CTSU) had retained its qualification as a fully registered unit following the 2012 review process.

The ICR-CTSU specialises in co-ordinating large multi-centre Phase III clinical trials of new cancer treatments, and is currently running patient trials across a range of cancer and treatment types. Trials led by the ICR-CTSU have led to changes in routine clinical practice within the NHS and worldwide.

The unit brings experts including statisticians, trial managers and IT specialists together with opinion-leading clinicians to design, initiate, conduct and analyse clinical trials.

Professor Judith Bliss, director of the ICR-CTSU, said: “Clinical trials are at the heart of advances in modern medicine, providing solid evidence about whether new treatments will benefit and be safe for patients. It is therefore of critical importance that all trials are designed and carried out to the highest possible standard to ensure their findings are reliable. We are pleased to once again have the quality of our work confirmed by an external panel of experts.”

The ICR-CTSU was one of the first units to be registered in 2007 when the registration process began, and today is one of 46 registered units across the UK. It is also National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) accredited and receives core funding from Cancer Research UK.

Professor Tom Walley, director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Evaluation, Trials and Studies Programmes said: “The NIHR continues to recognise the important and crucial role played by clinical trials units in helping to deliver quality research projects. This registration process confirms the international standard quality of units in the UK and that the units are capable of delivering the high standard required.”